Air conditioning has been available on the market for almost any kind of vehicle, except bicycles.
Fan systems have been proposed for bicycles, but for various reasons, have not been popular, often using dangerously exposed blades and gears.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an air conditioning system for bicycles in which the moving parts are all protected and housed and in which the flow of air is directed in a very concentrated manner, making use of the factor that the face of a cyclist is always centered directly above the plane of the wheels and with the maximum effect achieved by causing the cooling air to be directable at the cyclist's face, although the dispersion of the flow will cool other areas of the shoulders and chest to a substantial degree, also.
The importance of air conditioning a bicycle is not always readily understood because, while cycling, there is a breeze from the motion of the bicycle. However, cycling is often done under the hot sun and on sweltering days and always without the shade of a roof. Cyclists can become drowsy in the hot sun and the great danger of serious accidents from the drowsiness is very important.
The danger is particularly important when one considers that a cyclist is not protected, as is the passenger of an automobile.
For these reasons, a practical and effective bicycle air conditioner has been much needed.
A particular objective is to provide an effective way to hold an air conditioner system wheel firmly against the forward wheel of the bicycle to be driven thereby, the disconnection of the drive to the system being easily and quickly accomplished.
Heretofore the only fans proposed for use in bicycles have been of the radial-bladed type operating in the open air. An objective hereof is to provide an air blowing accomplished by blowers on a cylindrical periphery.
In U.S. Pat. No. 418,933, issued to C. W. Sommerville on Jan. 7, 1890, and titled Fan Attachment for Velocipedes or Other Vehicles, a single fan of the elongated radial-bladed type was used. A fan was disposed at a great height above the front wheel of the bicycle so as to fan a cyclist who is riding in a sitting-up position. A disadvantage is that the cyclist can pedal much more powerfully by bending forward into a position in which the flow of the air of the fan in this patent would pass over the cyclist's head and not cooling the cyclist. No adjustment is possible for the fan position because otherwise the belt would come out of position and would be slack.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 645,482 issued to J. A. Mills on Mar. 13, 1900 and titled Fan Attachment for Bicycles, a similar arrangement to the Sommerville patent was used with similar disadvantages. Both Mills and Sommerville patents had exposed belting which was in danger of catching wind-blown scarves or the like.
The U.S. Pat. No. 803,635 was issued to D. Stahlhut and titled Fan Attachment for Bicycles. In this patent the exposed fan of the elongated radial-blade type was down near the handle-bar and was exposed in a position where it would be in danger of being struck by the face of the cyclist in the event that the cycle hit an unseen obstruction and abruptly stopped.
In all of the above-mentioned patents, the exposed fan presented the danger of being struck by the operator's face.
U.S. Pat. No. 681,565 issued to O. B. McCune and C. Mull on Aug. 27, 1901 and titled Bicycle Fan was the first provision of a housed blower of a cylindrical periphery type. The gearing to drive the blower at a high speed was exposed and in danger of catching scarves and other wind-blown clothing. In this patent the drive was from the central sprocket of the bicycle involving long belting in a particularly dangerous position for catching and entangling an overcoat, or a skirt, or a pant's cuff. The blower in this patent had an outlet facing in only one linear direction and unadjustable to the positions of riders of different body length and of different preferred riding positions, such as bent-over or sitting-up.
The single large blower of U.S. Pat. No. 681,565 was necessarily bulky and disposed very close to the face of a cyclist who is bending over. Although a cyclist in this position can see most of the roadway that is of a substantial distance in front of the cycle, yet the position of the blower housing interferes to a degree with forward vision for a cyclist in the bent-over racing position because it is so close to his line of vision, if sometimes not in his line of vision.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide not one blower large and bulky and in a high position spaced above the front wheel of the bicycle, but two smaller blowers having a combined air-blowing capability of the single large blower of proportionately larger size. In this way the two smaller blowers can have their uppermost ends farther downward to accommodate an air-flow directing housing portion thereabove and directing air-flow upwardly and rearwardly.
A further objective is to provide for the two smaller blowers to be disposed one on each side of the front wheel of the cycle so that the top of the housing containing the blowers can be at as low a level as possible so as to distract the least from the forward vision lines of the sight of a cyclist riding bent over in the racing position.
Yet another objective is to provide for the rearward end of the housing which channels the flow from the blowers to be provided with an air-directing adjustable control so as to direct the air higher for those who wish to ride in a higher position and a lower position for those who wish to cycle in the bent-over postion, such adjustment being quickly accomplished and changeable for the rider who wishes to alter his position from sitting more straight up to the bent-over racing or power cycling position in which the cyclist's body is stream-lined for less wind-resistance.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,652 was issued to Lawrence C. Volk on Dec. 11, 1979, and titled Refrigeration System. This Volk patent shows the use of ice-cooling to cool food compartments of a catering truck. However, it has not caused anyone to conceive of the use of ice-cooling in the driver's area of any vehicle, nor is there ice-cooling in the Volk patent in the driver's compartment, nor has ice-cooling been proposed in bicycles.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,140,590 to F. M. Gleockler issued July 14, 1964, and titled Air Conitioner for a Face Mask, shows cooling with a mask, but a cyclist or other vehicle driver wearing such as mask would be dangerously handicapped in his vision and such masks have not led anyone to conceive of ice-cooling of a cyclist.